I don't even really understand how it works, even after reading that detailed description
I just RTFM'ed and it's what I said.
The game examines your first guess, and picks an answer which gives you fewest clues.
Example: You guess STRAP.
Game should analyze its word list and come up with an answer which leaves the largest possible number of guesses for your second go.
It might be GOING, which shares no letter with your first guess, and leaves 300 possible 2nd guesses for you;
Or it might be DRINK, which shares the R with your 1st guess—thereby giving you a yellow—but still leaves 350 possible guesses for your 2nd because there are so many more words which have R in them.
[above just random picks, not accurate]
It doesn't matter much which answer it comes up with, because it'll do the same after your 2nd guess—ie change the answer again to leave you with the largest number of options for Guess 3.
And so on, until you force it into only having one option left, at which point you win when you guess that.
From the docs:
"Each time you guess, Absurdle prunes its internal list as little as possible, attempting to intentionally prolong the game as much as possible "
That's why I'm fairly sure it's a one-shot game, ie once you figure out the optimal guesses, they'll always work. I'll bet if you can remember the words you played last time, you'll solve it in 5 lines again.
ETA this is in fact the case—from the docs:
"Absurdle algorithm is completely deterministic, it will always respond the same way to the same inputs"
And also:
"It is believed that 4 turns is optimal; it isn't possible to force a win in only 3 turns".
www.redactle.com
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